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Prevalence of Self-Reported Health Problems and Haemoglobin Status of Sudanese Adolescents

NCJ Number
215487
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 613-626
Author(s)
M. E. Moukhyer; N. K. de Vries; H. Bosma; J. Th. M. van Eijk
Date Published
August 2006
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study described self-reported health problems and hemoglobin status among 1,200 Sudanese adolescent males and females.
Abstract
Study results indicate a remarkably high number of Sudanese adolescents evaluating their general health as excellent and good (84 percent). Boys evaluated their health more positively than girls. A large number however, reported separate physical and psychological complaints which were equal for both genders. Girls reported a high prevalence of six chronic diseases out of seven, such as migraine and renal and rheumatic diseases. All participants reported malaria. Those with lower educational levels reported more health problems, which was similar to other studies in developed countries. Anemia was identified as a major problem among adolescents due to low-income, poor nutrition, and disease. The findings do not sustain the traditional assumption that adolescence is a healthy period in human life. The onset of adolescence is a critical period of biological and psychological change for the individual. In many areas, lack of data makes it difficult to assess the true importance of potentially crucial issues related to health and development of adolescents, mainly due to the restricted scope of studies. This study addressed two important indicators of adolescents’ health, self-reported health and hemoglobin status to determine anemia. Gender is of importance in this study in order to look at patterns of similarity and differences among them and their implications, if any. The health profile of 1,200 Sudanese adolescents was assessed in a cross-sectional, cluster random sampling survey. The adolescents were from the suburban area of Umbada, aged 10 to 19 years. Tables and references